The Cincinnati Reds of 1919... "the World Series Champions." There is a chance one may have never heard that statement before. The reason makes perfect sense. The history books (and today's internet) reminds everybody that the Chicago White Sox should have been World Series Champions of 1919. They just chose not to win. The team (obviously not every player on the roster, but a solid enough configuration of most of the best players on the team) decided that it was more lucrative and better suited for them if they just lost the World Series. For those in on the fix, it was better that they lost the World Series. No matter how many times and what way it is told to you, the White Sox lost the World Series. Few will ever tell you the Cincinnati Reds won. It is a shame. In any competitive sport, no matter what happens during the action, it takes a team effort to seize the victory. And that just applies to an individual game. World Series are generally a best of seven series (1903, 1919, 1920, 1921 were a best of eight), so even if players on the other team are trying to throw a World Series, the team on the other side still has to finish each game. Remember, not all players on the 1919 White Sox were in on the fix. Second baseman Eddie Collins, Catcher Ray Schalk, and Pitcher Dickey Kerr were all trying their best to help the White Sox win. In fact, a fix may not have been possible had Red Faber been healthy enough to pitch. In addition, two alleged players to have not been playing "on a level," Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver, performed very well in the series. The most respectful way to describe what the Reds had going for them is to state the Reds had a couple extra teammates for that World Series. Eddie Cicotte, Lefty Williams, Chick Gandil, Swede Risberg, and Happy Felsch may as well have worn Cincinnati uniforms for those games. Their allegiance was clearly for the NL club, the one that odds makers had said was a long shot to win the World Series. From a talent perspective, the White Sox had the advantage. But with the above mentioned White Sox players essentially playing for the Reds, the Reds were given a boast. One that might be equated to an acquisition of five really good players- just for the World Series. My issue is this: The Reds still had to win those games. Most of the games came down to a play or two, but the Reds still had to finish the game. The Reds had to make their own plays in the field. The Reds had to get the White Sox batters out to complete the game, especially those not in on the fix. Yes, the White Sox were throwing the World Series, but the Reds had to take and accept the gift. In hindsight, it can be seen that they did. It should have not been a given. Reds manager Pat Moran really did a stellar job managing the Reds to a NL Pennant on short notice. Moran, the manager of the 1915 Philadelphia Phillies NL Pennant winning team, took over for Christy Mathewson- who had enlisted in the US Army during World War I. Outfielders Edd Roush and Greasy Neale, and third baseman Heinie Groh led the Reds offense. Pitchers Slim Salee, Hod Eller, and Dutch Reuther won a total of 59 games for the Reds, a team that won the NL Pennant by nine games over the New York Giants. The Reds won 96 games and had a run differential of +176. I have contested the validity of the miracle Boston Braves of 1914. In the history of sports, there may not have been a bigger upset in a championship setting, certainly in the history of the World Series. Would you consider the miracle Braves, "The Miracle Braves," if more evidence pointed to a fix? Of course you would not. But more credit would be given to them now. Certainly more credit than has been given to the Reds of 1919. 2019 will be the 100 year anniversary of the Reds winning the World Series. It will also be 100 years since the infamous Black Sox scandal, also known as the White Sox throwing the World Series. I hope Cincinnati takes time to honor that team again. Regardless of the back story, the Reds were still the World Series Champions. The 1919 World Series Championship was the first of the five the team has. Yet, the history books want to spend more time discussing how the White Sox lost as opposed to how the Reds won.

The MLB 2020 free agent class has the potential to include Jose Altuve, Chris Sale, Madison Bumgarner, and Paul Goldschmidt, among others. Other top pitchers, such as Sonny Gray, Cole Hamels, Dellin Betances, and Jake Odorizzi, as well as position players like Xander Bogaerts, Adam Eaton, and Anthony Rendon, are all likely to be highly sought after if they choose to test free agency. However, what would any of those players do or think if they were told they could no longer play Major League Baseball?In the off season of 1920, 100 years before this upcoming date, there was no free agency. Players were the property of their teams, as their parent clubs reserved the rights to their services. Each player had their contract presented to them and there was no negotiation. In fact, many players were expected to simply be happy they were being given a contract to play baseball that season. The 1920 season likely saw the most eerie time in the history of the sport, coming off the ruling of the players involved in throwing the 1919 World Series. Gambling had been involved in the game for years, and it seemed as if the trust in the game had been lost. The fact that players took money from gamblers to intentionally lose a World Series could have very well destroyed the sport forever. The hiring of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis provided the game with the credibility it needed. It needed a final voice, one that was independent of player and owner interest. One that would get to the bottom of what happened in the World Series and one that would rid the game of untrustworthy players, coaches, managers, and executives. The fans of the game had every right to not trust whether the game was being played on a level. Much has been written about the players who were banned for life for their involvement in the throwing of the 1919 World Series. Joe Jackson may not have understood what he was getting into, he might have even been bullied by his teammates or by the gamblers. Buck Weaver likely did not even participate in the fix. It is a fact that he did not receive any money. Eight players total received lifetime bans by Landis and were made an example to the rest of the players, managers, coaches, and executives. Jackson, Weaver, Eddie Cicotte, Lefty Williams, Happy Felsch, Chick Gandil, Swede Risberg, and Fred McMullin had no choice to accept the penalties issued by the first ever Commissioner of Baseball. In addition to the Black Sox Scandal, Landis decided it was time to remove shady characters from the game. He banned Hal Chase and Lee Magee, two of the most pronounced game- influencers, for life based off of evidence he had that both fixed games, or had a hand in games being fixed. One of the characters was an outfielder by the name of Benny Kauff. In his early years, Kauff was compared to Ty Cobb based off the way he played the game. But few, Cobb included, were as narcissistic and egotistic as Kauff was. In other words, if you wanted to know how good Kauff was, all you had to do is ask him.Kauff started his big league career with the New York HIghlanders in 1912. He had gotten just a cup of coffee with the Highlanders after spending most of the season in the minor leagues. After spending the entire 1913 season playing for the Hartford Senators of the "B" League, he jumped to the newly formed Federal League and instantly became a star. Playing for the Indianapolis Hoosiers, Kauff hit .370 with an on base percentage of .447 and a slugging percentage of .534, finishing the season with 120 runs scored, 211 hits, 44 doubles, 13 triples, eight home runs, 95 runs batted in and a league leading 75 stolen bases. Playing in just 136 games the next season for the Federal League's Brooklyn Tip Tops, Kauff hit .342, .446, .579 with 92 runs scored, 165 hits, 23 2B, 11 3B, 12 HR, 83 RBI, and 55 stolen bases. When the Federal League folded after the 1915 season, it was expected that Kauff would continue to be a star in the National League. Though he stole 40 bases in his first season with the New York Giants in 1916, Kauff failed to perform at the same level as he did in the Federal League. That being said, it is not like he performed poorly. He was considered an important part of the Giants team that made it to the 1917 World Series against the Chicago White Sox. He played the majority of the next four seasons in New York, before having his contact traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the American Association in 1920. At this point, he was a good player, no longer a great player. In the off season of 1919, Kauff gained attention when he sold a car which was later found out to be stolen. Kauff testified that he had no knowledge that the car was stolen. When it went to trial in the 1921, Kauff was already suspended pending the results of the trial. Though he was acquitted, Commissioner Landis continued to ban Kauff for life, a sentence that was never changed before Landis' death in 1944, nor Kauff's in 1961. I understand the Commissioner trying to make an example out of anybody he could at that time. Kauff's case, whether he was like-able or not, seems to be unfair given the circumstances. The other players were accused of throwing baseball games, Kauff was not. And whether Landis agreed with the verdict or not, the man was found not guilty in a court of law. Many give the Commissioner a lot of credit for saving baseball. I am not denying that. But there was nothing ever granted to him that allowed for his decisions to be more powerful than the ones made by other judges. He was never the "supreme judge." In fact, after two years of being the Commissioner of Baseball, he gave up being a judge altogether. Even as a judge, he was out of his jurisdiction to ban for life a player who was not convicted in a court of law. Sure he had the right to suspend him. What he did was over the top and uncalled for. Because of that, Benny Kauff will forever be remembered for being the only player banned for life for going to trial (and found not guilty) for selling a stolen car.

During his first week as the 10th Commissioner in the history of Major League Baseball, Rob Manfred has had to touch on a number of prospective changes to the game. From the elimination of extreme defensive shifts to the National League adopting the designated hitter, the Commissioner was asked to speak on a number of different baseball topics. Some of them he may be serious about doing something about and others he will never consider. When it comes to players being banned for life of any type of association with the game of baseball, there are a number of different categories. Most have to do with gambling on baseball or impacting whether the game is being played on a level. Of course, that all came from the throwing of the 1919 World Series by the Chicago White Sox against the Cincinnati which we all refer to as the "Black Sox" scandal. Members of the heavily favored White Sox took money from gamblers to throw the World Series so that the gamblers could make more money. This became a national story and something needed to be done about it. There are the eight White Sox players who were banned for life from that incident. Then there are the two unofficial blackballs imposed by MLB owners against Hal Chase and Lee Magee, two criminals who were mistaken for ballplayers. Then, of course, there is the Pete Rose situation- while more controversial, the fact that he was suspended for life is understood based on the rules that prohibit betting on baseball. Finally, there is the case of Benny Kauff, the only player in Major League history to be banned for auto theft. To make matters worse, he was found not guilty but power happy Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis refused to overturn the ban. The last category of players is the group we spend too much time talking about in today's game. Maybe it is because it all happened too recently, anyways... everybody has to put their two cents in. The steroids era in Major League Baseball happened and players are paying the price. A price, in some cases, that is on perception of people who are not medical doctors and not in the correct position to make those kind of decisions. Less proof exists in cases where people say the player "looked like" they did steroids. Once again, as I have said on many occasions, the media and fans have become the judge, jury and executioner in regards to which players used PEDs and which did not. Though these players are not banned for life, their perception is keeping them out of the Hall of Fame. For the exception of Mark McGwire, few implicated PED users have post playing baseball jobs. Because of this, there is a blackball that, similar but not as obvious on the ones put on Chase and Magee, that is keeping these players away from the game of baseball. And in some cases, there is not overwhelming evidence to even support the claims. The movie Eight Men Out (based on the 1963 book) gives a deep description of everything that led to the games of the 1919 World Series being thrown. White Sox owner Charles Comiskey was known as a cheap skate, however, his actions and all around attitude exemplified the majority of the owners of that time. With the reserve clause in effect and the players having nobody to represent their interests, it was understandable why a rift would exist between the owner and his players. The owners did everything to treat these players like property- cheap property and in addition acted in devious and borderline criminal ways. They broke promises and the bottom line was, if they didn't want to pay a player a certain salary or bonus, even if it was agreed upon, they just simply would not do it. Comiskey had a ton of power throughout the game of baseball, particularly in the American League- which was still in its infant stages of being. He was the poster child for what the owners did to the players and the way they were treated. Up to a point, it was understood why something like the Black Sox scandal was possible... no, probable. While there was a rift that existed on the team to begin with essentially Eddie Collins, Ray Schalk and Red Faber not associating with anyone else on the team, even the most straight edged player still knew Comiskey for what he was. When it comes to the fix, the obvious players who were orchestrating the whole thing were Chick Gandil, Swede Risberg and the two pitchers, Eddie Cicotte and Lefty Williams. Happy Felsch, the team's center fielder, was also in on the fix and also included was utility infielder Fred McMullin. McMullin would not have been included had he not overheard players talking about it. He would demand to be included or he was to rat the players who were involved out. In all honesty, that should have been all the players who were banned for life for throwing the 1919 World Series. History tells us that two other players, 3B Buck Weaver and LF Shoeless Joe Jackson as well as two MLB players who did not play for the White Sox, Hal Chase and Joe Gedeon were also banned for life by the tyrant of a Baseball Commissioner. Chase was already blackballed, as I mentioned before, but clearly had knowledge of the fix and was known to have bet a lot of his own money. Gedeon was a friend of Risberg and learned of the fix through him. At the time, Gedeon was playing for the St Louis Browns. Though I am not a fan of Landis as a person, I completely understand why Chase and Gedeon were also suspended. Joe Jackson clearly was not like the other players included in the fix. No proof even exists that he ever agreed to be involved. It was also said that Jackson was threatened and by this bully Risberg and because he was illiterate and a little bit of a slow thinker, he was not always able to think for himself and therefore may have been included in something he never really agreed to. Williams, Jackson's roommate, insisted that Jackson was not involved and felt that the mere mention of Shoeless Joe's name kept the gamblers interested in making a deal. To me, the question of whether or not Shoeless Joe Jackson was involved in the fix had to do with him admitting to the Grand Jury that he received $5000 from the gamblers. If he did, he is just as guilty as those who were not playing the game on a level because he received said money. Only Joe and maybe his wife know for a fact of whether or not he received the money. If not, he should be reinstated and enshrined into Baseball's Hall of Fame. The book and movie Eight Men Out are centered around Buck Weaver. Weaver was banned for life because of his guilt by association even though he clearly never involved, never received any money and played the best baseball of his career in that 8 game World Series. The more I research Commissioner Landis, the more resemblance I see between him and a dictator. I think he felt he was that much better than baseball, as if everybody should just bow down to him. Landis' stance on Buck Weaver was that he should have been a rat. If Buck Weaver knew that players on his team were orchestrating a fix of the World Series, or any game for that matter, he- and apparently just he- needed to tell his owner/ manager what was going on. Was Buck Weaver the only one not involved in the fix of the World Series that knew about what was being discussed? I doubt it. If Buck Weaver was guilty by associating himself with teammates that were thinking about not being on a level, he was certainly not the only one. Why was he signaled out? Why weren't others implicated for "knowing something was up?" Most importantly, why was the fact that Buck Weaver heard others talking about the fix considered just as equal as those who were actually throwing the World Series games!!!??! Out of the eight men out, Buck Weaver was the one of them that was left out once again. He was the one forced to pay a price and a sentence for something he did not do. And once again, there was never any evidence which proved any sort of involvement. He has already served a life sentence for a role in which never existed. His life has ended. His time has been served. Criminals who have been given a life sentence still get a funeral, if warranted. In the terms of baseball, Buck Weaver never even got that. There are a ton of things the new MLB Commissioner can rule on, or change if he wishes. Pete Rose can be reinstated, the players involved with steroids can be pardoned or there can even be some drastic rules changes that can be put into place that will impact the game for here on out. While it is understood that Pete Rose being reinstated could put him in a position to hurt the games integrity since he is still alive, there is no harm in a reinstatement for Buck Weaver, or Shoeless Joe for that matter. Do you want Hall of Famers who are involved in stuff like this? Well... if you put Pete in you clearly have to put JJ in as well. And it is completely harmless to reinstate a player in Buck Weaver who was not Hall of Fame worthy anyways. To me, this decision is one of the easiest and less impact full than any one Manfred will have to make. I am sure it will mean the world to the Weaver family- many generations of people who have had to live with the injustice Buck had to endure. It is that simple, just reinstate Buck Weaver. A man of over 1300 career hits and a .272 batting average will never be considered for the Hall of Fame. And the man has been dead for almost 60 years! Like Nike says, "Just Do It."

The 1919 Black Sox scandal was the event that caused the stiffer rules that exist in today's game. Rules that have seen the game's all time hit leader banned from life. While the players involved in the 1919 White Sox throwing of the World Series against Cincinnati Reds and Pete Rose get all the attention when it comes to gambling and baseball, in my opinion, two other players were more blatant in their approach and have seldom been discussed. The irony is the fact that they played for the Cincinnati Reds just a year earlier, in 1918. The Reds as the opponent of that fateful series, where members of the White Sox, led by Eddie Cicotte, Buck Weaver, Lefty Williams and Joe Jackson, took money to lose the World Series intentionally. The White Sox were so heavily favored, one who bet on the Reds would make a fortune if the Reds won. On this date in baseball history, Lee Magee was given his unconditional release from the Chicago Cubs amid suspicion that he was involved with gamblers and may have taken money to lose games during the 1919 season. Magee would then sue the Cubs to recover his lost salary for the 1920 season. Foolishly, he would confess that he conspired to thrown a game while playing for the Cincinnati Reds just ten days earlier. His intention was to admit what he did as a sign of honesty, which would convince NL President John Heydler and Cubs owner William Veeck he did not bet while playing for the Cubs. Of course, his admission forced the forfeiture of his contract with the Cubs and he was later banned for life for what he admitted to. He was involved with Hal Chase, in my opinion, an even worse man that Magee was. Magee and Chase had each put up a check of $500, before game one of a double header with the Boston Braves in 1918. That payment entitled the two of them to one third of the gamblers winnings as long as the Reds lost the game. During the game, Magee did his part, making two critical errors and another on the base paths. The Reds ended up winning the game, with Magee forced to score the winning run. Magee stopped payment on his check, thinking Chase double-crossed him. Magee was dishonest with the game of baseball, his teammates and Chase which made him few allies when he had to address the charges. Magee was always a shady character, playing for five teams in his last five seasons and seven in his nine year career. After the Reds traded him after the 1918 season to Brooklyn, during a road trip in Boston (the same place the ill fated game was played), he was served with papers for non-payment of his debt to the gambler. This forced the trade to the Cubs, who instantly wanted nothing to do with the gambling allegations and Magee's baggage. If Magee's actions seemed devious, Chase was the poster child for illegal betting on baseball. Chase was accused as far back as 1910 of throwing games for the New York Highlanders. Christy Mathewson, his manager in 1917, accused him of throwing games and suspended him. In addition to the incident in 1918, he was suspended by the New York Giants for throwing games in 1919. While he was in the process of being banned from professional baseball for life, he was kicked out of the Pacific Coast League for trying to bride an umpire. In addition, he was alleged to have won $40,000 betting on the Reds to win the 1919 WS. There is no question that gambling was a big part of the game in the first 20 years of the 20th century in major league baseball. Many games were thrown as gamblers had the advantage of paying the players more money than they would be paid by their respective employers. The whole Black Sox scandal stems from the treatment by owner Charlie Comiskey, and though it was wrong, this was an example of non criminal players being pushed to commit the so called crime. Pete Rose is the all time hit king, with no proof or insinuation that he gambled on baseball while he was a player. However, his choice to gamble on baseball games when he was a manager led to his being banned for life. While the Black Sox or Rose could be considered bad people for what they did, labeling them as criminals, in my opinion, would be a stretch. Magee and Chase were criminals who just happened to play baseball. Hopefully the difference is noted. I will leave on this one note: Rose broke the all time hits record held by Ty Cobb, who was forced to resign during the 1926 season when there was a report he conspired with Cleveland Indians manager Tris Speaker to determine the outcome of a game. The lack of evidence should not clear Cobb or Speaker as accuser Dutch Leonard produced two documents from pitcher Joe Wood to substantiate his claims. Commissioner Kenishaw Landis dismissed the case after Leonard refused to testify.